Book Review: Drynn by Steve Vera

Drynn is the first book in the Last of the Shardyn series by Steve Vera. Montana police chief Skip Walkins is hot on the trail of a murder suspect when he witnesses a drifter free the Lord of the Underworld. Across the country Gavin's past comes to haunt him and threatens his fiance Amanda. All of this comes to pass because seventeen years ago five knights from Earth's magical twin entombed Asmodeous the Pale, Lord of the Drynn, in Skip's town. Now that the dark god is free again, he's anxious to get back home and finish the war he began and to enslave all life. It begins with killing the knights who trapped him. Deprived of their magic, the knights fight back using whatever they can get their hands on. Skip is drawn in to their struggle while Donovan Smith, the demi-god murderer whom Skip was after in the first place, plots to find the Lord of the Underworld and butcher him on his own. Together, these unlikely heroes might just save the world.

Drynn is a book that left me torn. I loved the characters and the depth of which was given to them. the story and the action were all very interesting and I liked the concept and the execution for the most part. However, I was left feeling a little underwhelmed when I was finished. As the first book in a series I understand the need to build the world and set up the concept needed for the story to move forward, but there were times where I just felt like there was too much of an info dump. too many situations, facts, and confrontations happening too quickly. I like a fast pace, but there just seemed to be too much going on all at once. It was still an intriguing book, and I am not sure what to suggest to improve it. Perhaps once I digest all of the action and information a little more thoroughly I will have a better way to describe the book and what I feel about it.

If you like descriptive, information and action packed urban or high fantasy with plenty of both character development and fight scenes the Drynn is for you. I really enjoyed most of the book but felt both over and under whelmed with the book as a whole. Definitely worth a look, but I am still struggling to come up with the right way to describe my feeling for the story. I will likely read the next book in the series, to see where we go from here.